


In the Land of Dragons

by megyal



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dragons, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-03-04
Updated: 2008-03-04
Packaged: 2017-10-23 09:09:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/248628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megyal/pseuds/megyal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlie's job has changed from dragon-keeper to dragon-hunter in the apocalyptic aftermath of the war. DH-based, but not EWE-compliant; I'm sure I can say it veers into AU territory. Influenced by the movie <i>Reign of Fire</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Land of Dragons

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://hpvalensmut.livejournal.com/profile)[**hpvalensmut**](http://hpvalensmut.livejournal.com/) , for [](http://softly-sweetly.livejournal.com/profile)[**softly_sweetly**](http://softly-sweetly.livejournal.com/).

  
_Here be nightmare. Here be fright._  
Here be dragon, flame and flight.  
-'The Dragon's Curse', by Nick Toczek

  


* * *

Charlie stood with his wand in hand, back pressed against a brick wall. His face was filthy; sweat ran down his forehead and dripped over his eyelashes, but he did not dare move a muscle. He looked at the man poised on the opposite wall, the both of them hardly breathing in this narrow alley between two buildings, while the young Welsh Green they were stalking moved slowly along the main road, its massive wings folded tightly to its body.

Charlie tapped his right temple with one hand, and then pointed towards the mouth of the alleyway, where the soft, scraping sounds of the foraging dragon filtered through the still, dusty air. There were no other humans around this sector; it had been evacuated right before this dragon had appeared, which was a pretty lucky thing. The other man, Downer was his name, cocked the plasma-rifle in his hands very slowly, so that the double-click would not be too loud. Muggles and their outrageous toys; Charlie couldn't help but grin at Downer, who returned the grin mightily.

 _Ready_ , Charlie mouthed. _One, two..._

"Three!"

They burst out of the alley and the dragon was waiting, plumes of flame curling out of its flared nostrils. Charlie dodged behind an overturned van, feeling defensive spells whiz past his ear, a distraction for the dragon from the other units. Downer was still on his side of the abandoned street, kneeling and aiming the plasma-rifle carefully. Charlie put all of his strength behind a stunning spell that caught the enraged dragon in the face and it turned to him, arching back to its full, awe-inspiring height, the golden sheen of its underbelly flashing at Charlie.

 _Now, Downer, NOW_ , Charlie yelled in his mind as waves of heat washed over him, spilling into the shield he had placed over himself. He had one on Downer too, and the effort of maintaining two shields was overwhelming. _NOW, DAMMIT_ , and the plasma-rifle roared.

Blue light leapt out of the massive weapon, separating from a single brilliant line into many separate threads that looped around the dragon like a net. The dragon thrashed, its tail smashing into a storefront window, damaging manikins and sending their mangled limbs flying; Charlie ducked one plastic arm, and jumped out of the way as the dragon, wrapped up fully in the blue light, came crashing down in the middle of the street, bellowing mightily.

"Hold fast, hold fast!" he yelled and other nets appeared, spiralling to help Downer with the fighting dragon. Charlie Summoned his backpack, rummaging in it for the massive needle he had in there. Uncapping it, he approached the prone creature with caution.

"Now, now, sweetheart," he told it with a grim smile. "You're going to be a nice little lad and come quietly. Right? Uncle Charlie is here to take you home."

The dragon was giving off a spectacular amount of heat as Charlie approached, but he was quite used to it. He rest his hands, covered in protective gloves, on one massive, twitching foot, feeling the large scales shift against his hand. "That's a good boy." He lifted the nearest scale very slowly, right on the leg he was nearest to, and reached in between it and the one right below, feeling for the soft flesh that the armoured scales protected. "Good boy," he said quietly and the dragon was quite still, watching him with intelligent, slitted eyes. Charlie knew this one. Little Joe, was what he had been called on the reserve in Wales, although he wasn't quite little anymore. As Charlie sank the needle full of tranquilizing potions into the dragon's skin, the dragon's snake-like eyes contracted, the narrowed-pupils pulling even more until they were nothing but thin lines.

Little Joe was out for the count.

Someone landed with a soft thump beside him, and he turned to see Ron and Harry straighten up from a _Leviosa_ that had carried them gently from three stories above to the ground. Ron flashed him a tired, relieved grin and Harry rubbed his wand on his heavily padded shoulder before sticking it in the holster at his hip.

"Wouldn't it have been easier just to Apparate down?" Charlie wondered aloud.

"You bore me, big brother of mine," Ron said with great loftiness, sounding so much like George. "Levitating down just _looks brilliant_."

"Great big fellow, isn't he?" Harry remarked as he gazed at their captured quarry; his eyes, exhausted behind his goggles, skittered over the long form of the dragon. "Stubborn, too."

"Eh, they all are," Charlie said cheerfully, placing the cap back on the syringe. The dragon let out a sudden, heated huff and everyone in the unit that was gathering close now took a few steps back. The Muggles, who had been disarming their guns, powered them back up again. "It's alright, boys, he's out cold. We'll be taking this one in."

"I'll need to write the reports for my supervisors," Downer replied, squinting as a sleek helicopter landed in the square some hundred meters or so down the road. He nodded at his men and they took off towards it. "Weasley. Potter," he said curtly, nodding at the younger wizards with a slight twist of his thin lips. He gave Charlie a long, considering look; Charlie had gotten _that_ look more than once from Downer, and if circumstances were different, he would have followed through with the very slight twinge of attraction. Downer was just his type, too: tall, slender, with a shock of bright blond hair that Charlie had advised him to cover from their first debriefing, just as Charlie himself did. The colour would certainly catch the eyes of the dragons.

He smiled at Downer, whose returning grin was slow and amused; as Downer turned around smartly and trotted after his men to the helicopter, Charlie gave his behind a perfunctory glance. It was habit, that was all. Downer ducked under the near-silent blades and ticked a cocky salute at them as the helicopter rose above the buildings and banked in a northerly direction. Harry raised dark eyebrows at him and Charlie shook his head with a grin.

"Pass the Mega Portkey, Ronniekins," Charlie said, and caught it with a slight laugh as Ron threw the powerfully charmed glasses-case at him, obviously aiming for his head.

* * *

Thirteen days after Harry Potter had killed Lord Voldemort, a charm-bomb blasted the Ministry of Magic to shocking bits.

Thirteen days to the moment of his death, to be exact. While everyone was carefully picking up the pieces of a long, tiring war and a shockingly short battle, the bomb, a final testament to Lord Voldemort's dark and calculating heart, detonated from within the massive statue that had been placed in the Ministry of Magic. 'Magic is Might', indeed, for the bomb decimated the underground edifice; thirty-eight wizards and witches that were working in the building were killed instantly. Four buildings above-ground were severely damaged, causing the Muggle government to go up in arms over terrorist attacks. In restrospect, it might have been simpler if that had been the case.

The Ministry of Magic had been the central generator for the majority of wards, spells and charms that hid the Wizarding world from the Muggle. Many shields in public Wizarding areas were tied to the Ministry, for regulation and monitoring purposes. When the Ministry was destroyed, the wards went. Wards that prevented Muggles from stumbling into magical communities, from discovering the magical byways and paths that existed side-by-side with the Muggle world.

It would have been disastrous for Muggles to find out about the Magical world in such a manner, but it turned out to be much worse: the wards that kept the dragons in the protected reserves also went down.

Clever, massive, dangerous creatures. The dragons sensed that the magical spells had been dissipated split seconds before their keepers did, and it was a massacre. Keepers, surprised by a terrible, coordinated effort, fell victim to the mayhem. Charlie himself barely managed to escape from the Romanian reserve, his left shoulder badly burnt. The dragons were completely free... and they began to assert their reign.

It took such a long time for Muggles and Wizards to join efforts and fight back. The Ministry of Magic was gone and for a few panicked days, there was no source of leadership until Kingsley and Harry stepped in. The Muggle world fared worse, because they simply did not know how to deal with the dragons. These were _magical_ beasts, immune to bullets and as rapid as any jet-fighter in the air. Every squadron sent to skirmish with them was never to be seen again.

"You need us," Harry and Kingsley told the frustrated Muggle governments, who grimly set their collective jaws and sent them away, blaming all of the Wizarding world for the infestation of dragons. It was only when the dragons razed London to a dusty collection of skeletal edifices, burnt to fragile bits of walls held together by ash, that the Muggle government finally caved in.

The dragons were far slyer than before... or perhaps they were always quite sly and Charlie had not given them the benefit of the doubt. In any case, there were far less Keepers to help out, so the going was exceedingly tough.

Now, as Charlie pressed the Mega Key against the massive, twitching side of the dragon and reached out so that Harry and Ron could grab on in time for the Portkey to activate and drag them all to Hogwarts with that fish-hook sensation that no-one ever really got over, he wondered just when this so-called 'going' would ever get better.

They landed with a graceless thump just outside the school itself. The dragon let out a pained, muted roar, coming awake from the potions Charlie had injected him with. Charlie patted him on his scaly flank in commiseration; Portkeying all bound up was no way to go at all, but they couldn't help it. It was the quickest way to do this anyway.

As Ron pressed the small phoenix-shaped medallion around his neck to alert the others of their arrival, Charlie took a moment to gaze at the familiar scene of his former school. The old school, one of those few sites which had not been on the Magical grid, still had the majority of its warding shields and spells intact. The magic of its location and the powerful ancient spells woven into its grey stone walls had made it one of the last places in Britain that was still completely hidden away from Muggle eyes. He looked and felt his heart lighten at the arched windows reflecting the cloudy sky, cheerful pennants placed at the topmost turrets snapping heartily in the early-autumn afternoon breeze.

Good old Hogwarts. Without it, they would not have been able to accomplish everything they had so far.

There was a group of people making their way to the entrance where they were waiting with the trussed-up dragon. Just in time, for the plasma-net was nearly ready to dissipate. He could see Hermione bustling at the head of the small group, her hands full of a hexagonal-shaped container, a deep-blue colour with a webbing of lighter blue stretched right across the surfaces. He saw Ginny, Neville, George and the Headmistress trudging over as well... and Fleur waddling her way after them, her large belly preventing her from moving too fast.

"Where's _Fleur_ going?" Harry wondered aloud, smiling a little absently down at Ginny as she reached his side. She tilted her face up for a quick kiss and Harry bent to oblige her, ignoring Ron's choked gasps, which were quickly stifled as Hermione jabbed him in the ribs and got her own greeting.

"Fleur," Charlie said in a reasonable, yet warning voice. "You don't need to be here, it won't be good for you and the baby. What would I tell Bill, if anything happened to you?'

"But, but I can do it!" Fleur cried in her high voice, her accent deepening with her agitation. She tilted her wand and a crazy bolt of purple light shot out of the end of it, nearly hitting poor Neville in the toes. "Whoops."

"Whoops, indeed." Charlie sighed. "Fleur, I know you want to help, but we're good, alright?"

"But you are not having enough people, no?" Fleur sulked, the _people_ in her sentence coming out as _peepelle_ ; Charlie bit the inside of his lip, not sure whether to laugh or get even sterner with her. "This spell you are to be doing, it needs eight. Bill, 'e is not 'ere. I will take his place."

"No way," Harry put in firmly and Fleur's face fell. "It's alright, Fleur, we can do this one without Bill. The dragon isn't that big anyway."

Everyone looked pointedly at the dragon, which seemed to let out an offended huff of hot air.

"You've hurt his feelings, you cads," George said with a dry chuckle and the dragon huffed again. "You're quite big, my boy! Don't listen to their ruinous lies!"

"We can do it," Neville said, a little faintly as if he didn't believe this himself. "Let's do it."

Without waiting, Charlie raised his wand and very clearly cast " _Diminuo!_ " at the dragon, aiming very carefully at a spot between the shimmering blue webbing that held the dragon. As a deep grey light shot out of his wand, he braced himself for the backlash of the dragon's magic as it struggled with his own.

The dragon's magic, he could feel it curling in such a slimy manner along his wand, trying to tear into his own magic. Charlie, quite accustomed to the feeling, merely twisted his hand from side to side, as if he was turning a door-handle.

Other flares of _Diminuo_ joined his and he actually heard Neville give a shudder at the sensation of the dragon's completely alien power. It was very disconcerting if one was not used to it, and Charlie turned his head, giving Neville a cheerful, encouraging grin. Neville's answering smile was quite green.

"I hate this part," Ron said aloud. "Feels.... weird."

"It's an effect called the Phenomena of Echoed Energy," Hermione said promptly. "When a beast with a very powerful magical signature--"

"Less talking, more spelling!" Charlie sang out and Hermione pressed her lips into a firm line.

Slowly, so very slowly, the dragon began to shrink. Quite alarmed by this turn of events, the Welsh Green began to struggle even more than before, twisting groggily. The signature double-flash of bright flame erupted from its nostrils, a lot weaker than usual, but Charlie had made sure that they had all been situated away from its horned snout; nevertheless, the heat was still unpleasant. Charlie turned his face away, squinting and holding his breath. Watching him, the others did the same.

The beast was still shrinking too slowly, until Harry cast his own spell, and then it was quite amazing. Charlie knew he was putting everything into it, to make up for Bill's absence. Harry was sheer power, brute force that must have come about as a result of his confrontation with Voldemort, but Harry hated to hear anything like that. It was true, though; Harry was one of the most powerful wizards of their time, and everyone knew it.

The dragon's shrinkage increased drastically and Charlie could hear Harry giving a determined growl, even as the dragon's confused bellows changed in pitch, going from a low roar to a cry that registered higher and higher with every moment. The webbing went smaller with it, and Charlie pushed out even more effort. Everyone did; this needed to be done.

And then they were finished. Charlie ended his spell and sprinted over the area flattened in the former great shape of the dragon, to where a tiny, brilliant-green form lay twisting and blowing needle-point jets of flame into the grass, setting a dry patch on fire. Charlie doused it with a quick _Agaumenti_ and then crouched beside the diminished dragom.

"Here," Hermione said as she came up right beside him. She had pulled the hexagon container apart, the cover in one hand, the base in the other. Charlie waited patiently until the dragon's fire stopped and then bent down, scooping up the hot little form into his hand. It burned a little, but that was alright; he had a few moments before the dragon got its breath back, so it could supply oxygen as part of a complex chain reaction with hydrogen to make fire. He had been explaining to Fleur that very morning that this was the same hydrogen that was also stored in special glands to aid it in flight. He was careful in handling the now-tiny serpent, for a dragon's bones, though very strong, were also hollow and light.

He slid it into the hexagon and as soon as he banished the constrictive bounds, Hermione slid the cover over it; the cover went almost completely translucent, displaying the tiny dragon glaring balefully up at them, puffing out angry plumes of smoke.

"It's your own fault, Little Joe," Charlie told it as he took the Confiner from Hermione and cradled it close, making his way past the wards proper and onto the slightly unkempt grounds of the school. Headmistress McGonagall was looking about herself with a slight tinge of distaste, as if only just now noting the state of the comforting view stretching before them towards the main entry steps of the school.

"I'll be having a little talk with Hagrid," she muttered and made her way off hurriedly, snapping at a few students who had wandered outside. They gave her looks of terror (they were only firsties, poor lambs) and scrambled back towards the castle, casting round eyes at the little band of people making their way up the gently sloping lawn. Harry ducked behind Charlie self-consciously, but the students still spotted him, stopping in their tracks and staring.

"Get back inside!" Ginny yelled at them. For such a slim girl, she had a great big mouth and she smiled in triumph as the children scampered off again. Out of the corner of his eye, Charlie saw her take Harry's hand into hers and Harry raised the back of her hand to his lips. He rolled his eyes and saw with alarm that Hermione was giving Ron a sly look.

"I'll just be putting Little Joe here in the pen," Charlie put in, sure that none of them were hearing a word he said.

"I'll come with," Neville put in. "I have something to check, that Malfoy says he needs."

As Ginny dragged Harry away and Hermione did the same with Ron, Charlie and Neville went around the side of the castle. The greenhouses stood serenely in the late afternoon light, the deep green glass revealing nothing inside. Neville looked beside himself in contentment.

Behind the greenhouses, just beyond the vegetable patch, a new structure had been erected, large and circular, the wooden slats not quite meeting each other; brand new wards crackled determinedly against any unauthorized persons.

"I'll just be in the greenhouses," Neville informed him, making his way over to the greenhouses with the air of a man approaching a long-separated lover. Charlie grinned at his departing back and then went into the Pen.

It was cool inside, and not quite dark. Slender beams of golden sunlight snuck inside through the thin separations between the rough lumber of the walls, but it was still too dim for Charlie to see properly.

" _Lumos Totalus_ ," he muttered, one of the very few wandless spells he could manage, and the walls glowed with a steady, friendly light. There was a series of rustling sounds and Charlie crooned at his charges.

"Sorry, fellows, sorry to have woken you," he said gently, and the rustling died down. The tapping started right after. There were numerous cases, large, transparent and square like Muggle fish tanks, piled up atop each other, six or seven to a totem; many of them contained the miniaturized dragons that they had spent so much time re-capturing. An entire clan of Welsh Greens was flying in one of the bottommost tanks, a fact that Charlie was most grateful for, since he wouldn't have to summon the rickety stepladder over. He walked over to it, ignoring the family of Hebridean Black dragons that were flying serenely in their tank and smacking their spiked tails against the charmed glass walls, producing that tapping noise. The Hebrideans were one of the first to be recaptured, mostly because the McFusty clan of dragon-keepers were sharper than most and had contacted Charlie as soon as they could. The idea of using a strong _Diminuo_ had come from them and until they finished constructing a new area protected by stand-alone wards like Hogwarts, the Hebrideans, like all the other dragons, would stay here.

"Here, in you go," Charlie said as he reached the Welsh Green tanks, placing the Confiner vertically (Little Joe made an indignant, tiny roar) so that the cover was flat against the glass. He tapped his wand on the bottom half of the hexagon; the section of glass it was pressed against dissolved, as did the cover itself, so that there was no seal at all between Little Joe and the rest of the tank. The dragon flew out into the case, flying around the rest of the Welsh Greens with a brand of excited distress.

The dragons did not like this at all. They were solitary creatures, used to their own territory; in the wild, a dragon might not see another of its kind for many a moon. Charlie had to make sure that the dominant males had their own containment tank, to prevent any bloodletting. A young dragon like Little Joe would be quite fine where he was; and the females were not in season, so the mating violence was not apparent. In just a few months, a few intact reservations would be powerfully re-warded; hopefully, Charlie would be able to train more Keepers and release the majority of the dragons back into fully-sized protective freedom.

"Oh, come on, Joe, old boy," Charlie now remarked. "That's your mum... wait, no, that's Sweet Jill. That's your cousin, she is."

Little Joe looked doubtful at this, but the rest of the dragons spent much time sniffing and snorting at Little Joe in flight, zooming rapidly around each other and ascertaining that they were family. It wasn't feeding time as yet, so Charlie removed the Confiner, watching carefully to make sure that the charmed glass reappeared as soon as he moved the hexagon-shape.

The holding tanks buzzed with the combined magic of quite a few witches and wizards; without this existing magic as a sort of secondary boosting spell, the _Diminuo_ charm would be counteracted by the magic of the dragons, even at this size. The _Diminuo_ would be thrown off like an old cloak and they would have quite a large problem on their hands. Or rather, they'd have about fifty large problems to deal with, problems with long whip-like tails, sharp talons, huge teeth and terrible tempers.

"I'll see you at breakfast, my loves." Charlie walked out very slowly, inspecting the dragons to see if there were damages to any of them; his eyes skimmed over wings, legs, snouts and scales, recording the dragonlet's sizes mentally. They got into squabbles now and again, and were probably the only creatures to do lasting damage to each other. He might be a sort of dragon-hunter now, but he was a dragon-keeper _first_ , and he had a responsibility to both facets of who he was.

" _Finite Lumos Totalus_ ," and the lights went out; had to be careful with that, for a general _Finite_ would cancel all the wards, the _Diminuo_ , and the secondary protection that kept the Diminutive charm active. As he exited, making sure the external wards were working properly, he spotted Neville coming out of the greenhouses with an armful of daisies.

"Oi, Neville. Wait," Charlie called, catching up to him. "Going to Malfoy with those?"

Neville simply handed over the blooms to him.

"I hate going down the dungeons, anyway," he explained with a wry smile. "So... if you want--"

"Of course," Charlie said gallantly, squelching the sliver of anticipatory delight in his entire body. "I'll carry these to him."

* * *

  


  
_Earth and water, fire and air._  
Prepare to meet a creature rare.  
-'The Dragon's Curse', by Nick Toczek

  


* * *

Charlie had taken a long bath, and so felt a little chilly as he made his way through the dungeons in search of Malfoy. The dungeons always had that cool, dripping atmosphere that Charlie found just a little deliciously creepy, like those Muggle horror-films George and Ron liked to watch, before the reign of the dragons. He descended very slowly down the broad stone steps, one hand ghosting against the wall, the other clutching the flowers close. He was wary of tripping down the staircase and breaking his damn neck, so it was a comfort to come along the wall-sconces now and again, their guttering flames casting wavering yellow light on the dark walls. He went down about three levels, before turning left along a better lit corridor, ignoring a ghoul in the second room on the right which was shaking its chains quite impressively.

There was a sign on a door a bit further down, crooked white letters painted on the wood proclaiming that the room behind it was used for _EXPERIMENTAL POTIONS: DRAGON-RELATED_. Also, there was a warning in smaller red letters below those: _DO NOT DISTURB ON PAIN OF FLAYING_. Charlie chuckled to himself and reached for the dragon's head which acted as a door-handle. It snapped at him in quite a surly manner and Charlie poked it right in the centre of its snout, which was a fairly sensitive spot on a real dragon. The handle made a surprised snuffling sound and then turned on its own; the door clicked open and Charlie stepped inside as quietly as he could.

The room was long and narrow, shadows filling most of surprisingly tall space, settling into the deep ledges that mimicked large, arched window-spaces, even though they were filled in with brickwork, for they were located far underground; all was in a soft darkness, except for the very end, which was awash with bright spotlights. Three long tables were pushed together to form a neat 'U'. Four large cauldrons were bubbling atop carefully controlled flames on the left, three smaller cauldrons were unlit but were letting off wisps of steam on the right, and the middle table had a tall stool pulled up to it, right next to a messy pile of parchment and some quills. Malfoy's slender figure, dressed in a dark-green robe, walked sedately from the cauldrons on the right to the parchment pile.

"I've been waiting for those daisies for a quite awhile, Longbottom," Malfoy said dryly, standing with his back to Charlie as he eyed a noxious-looking blue liquid in a slender glass beaker before making a notation upon a parchment that was already filled with cramped writing. "A few more minutes, and you would have been placing them on my grave."

"That would been a real pity," Charlie said lightly, watching the narrow, green-clad back stiffen just a little. He went up to where Malfoy was, standing very close behind him and placing the plants in a clear spot beside the parchment, slowly, as if in offering. Malfoy did not move for a moment, and then his pale fingers reached out and touched the daisies, brushing lightly over the petals. Charlie inhaled deeply; Malfoy smelled of smoke and something metallic, like the smell that came from a sharp knife. His hair, long now like his father's and just as blond, was caught at the nape of his neck with a slender wrapping of black cloth.

"Malfoy." Charlie used his most steady voice in greeting, longing to smooth his hands over Malfoy's tense shoulders, knowing that Malfoy was probably expecting that, and refraining. Charlie was a patient man; he could stand here forever if he wanted.

"Weasley," Malfoy said evenly, now pushing the daisies away with short, sharp movements. "Back from your mission so soon? That must have been an easy one."

"Hmm," Charlie said noncommittally. Malfoy's head turned a little and Charlie could see a sliver of glittering grey as Malfoy considered him out of the corner of his eye. Charlie tilted his head and smiled.

"Lieutenant Downer was assigned to my unit today," he informed the grey sliver contemplating him. Malfoy's eye widened a little, before narrowing. Charlie noticed that his hands were gripping the side of the table, not too tightly, but tight enough. Malfoy had always had such a reaction to _Harry_ , and it pleased Charlie no end that now he was the one able to rile Malfoy in such a manner.

It felt a little like teasing a dragon. Malfoy disliked any mention of Lieutenant Downer, no matter how much Charlie tried to reassure him that Downer was of little interest to him.

"Oh, really?" Malfoy's voice was very calm, almost pleasant. He moved so suddenly that Charlie had to take a step back to let him pass; under that smell of smoke and metal, he thought he could detect Malfoy's soap and sweat. "That must have been nice for you to see him again. You've worked with him before, right?"

Malfoy stirred each concoction once, with that particular authority that Charlie had seen on Professor Snape, before ending the Constant Flame spells under the cauldrons. He stepped back and ran a hand through the bright, smooth hair, all the way down to the black strip of cloth he was using as a tie, pushing it so that it rolled down to the end of his hair; he took the strip and placed it carefully in a pocket of his robes.

"Yes, I have. It _was_ nice, as far as pursuing a terribly miserable creature who completely disagrees with what you're trying to do," Charlie said brightly. "Downer and I, we're fairly friendly, he's a decent bloke, for a Muggle and all--"

Malfoy whirled, a dervish painted in dark-green and pale skin, eyes alight. He flung himself at Charlie, who caught him easily, kissing him as fiercely as Malfoy was doing it to him, hard and deep, hands twisting in Malfoy's hair and pulling it back to tip Malfoy's head and get to his throat. Malfoy was taller, more slender and Charlie pushed him back against the parchment table, feeling Malfoy's fingers dig into the thick material of the protective jacket he had not bothered to remove before venturing down here with the daisies.

"Fucking _Weasley_ ," Malfoy ground out as Charlie sucked on one side of his neck, feeling the words move through that pale column. "Be careful, you idiot!" he snapped as Charlie swept the parchment away with one arm and pressed him back even more, so that Malfoy got the hint and hopped onto the table. Charlie was kissing him through his protests and curses until they were both on top of the table, the wood creaking under their combined weight. He straddled Malfoy, hands pressed against his shoulders, feeling his body buck and writhe like a pissed-off dragon as Malfoy bit at his mouth and arched up into him.

He pulled back, the both of them breathing hard; Malfoy came up on his elbows, watching him with a wild expression in his eyes, his thin top lip on the brink of curling. Charlie backed off a little and slid his hands under Malfoy's robes. Malfoy sneered at him and he grinned, leaning forward to kiss Malfoy again, short teasing nips as he grasped onto the waistband of Malfoy's trousers and began to tug them down.

"My boots," Malfoy said in a low voice. Charlie winked at him, pulling the tall, black boots off his feet, which were as narrow and pale as the rest of him, before going back to his original mission of peeling the soft loose trousers off.

"One day," Charlie promised him as Malfoy tilted up his hips to help, "I'm going to fuck you while you have those boots on."

Malfoy tried to glare at him, but the grey of his eyes was fully overtaken by black, his face flushed and damp; Charlie winked down at him, causing the glare to deepen. He chuckled even as he lifted Malfoy's robe to reveal those pale legs, long and trim, peering down to where Malfoy's cock lay bare and waiting, slender like the rest of him, flushed in anticipation.

Charlie dived underneath the robe, pulling it over his head. The heady, male scent of Malfoy poured into his nostrils, the smell of arousal driving along his own erection. Malfoy's legs pulled up around him, thighs bracketing his face as he rubbed his nose on that join of hip and thigh.

Malfoy was moaning from somewhere above him; he couldn't see anything at all. He could smell, he could feel... he could taste.

So he did, dipping his head to take Malfoy's eager cock in his mouth, savouring the salty bitterness as he took just the flared crown of it in his mouth to suckle gently. Malfoy groaned, legs falling slightly apart and then tightening, over and over again in anticipation.

Charlie slipped down further, trying to control his breathing as he took more of Malfoy's cock into his mouth. Malfoy bucked his hips up, maybe a little maliciously, Charlie wasn't sure, but he moved his hands from where they had been hooked around Malfoy's legs and pressed his palms against Malfoy's pelvis, fingers splayed across hot, sweaty skin as he held him down.

"Bastard," Malfoy gasped, gathering up the material of his robe, so he could look at Charlie's bobbing head properly. Charlie groaned around his mouthful, pressing himself against the unforgiving surface of the table.

This wasn't working much, though; no matter how amazing Malfoy felt in his mouth, soft skin and hot taste and hard flesh, it would be more amazing to be buried within him, feeling Malfoy invite him deep into that clenching heat. He slid off the table, breathing raggedly and dragging Malfoy towards him.

"Be careful with me," Malfoy told him sternly, wrapping those legs around his waist, sitting up to fling his arms around Charlie's neck. "You nearly gave me a splinter in my delicate rear, pulling me about like that. I'll hex all your disgusting red hair off next time you do that, Weasley."

"I'll give you something better in your delicate rear," Charlie grunted as he lifted the other man and staggered around the tables, towards a door that was tucked almost in the very corner of two walls. Malfoy's tongue was delicately exploring the whorls of his ear as he fumbled around for the door handle, thanking his stars that it wasn't a dragon one as the outer door was.

Candles lit up the small austere bedroom as they tumbled inside it. There was nothing in there but a canopied bed that was missing its canopy and a night-table stacked with even more parchment. At least the bed was fairly comfortable, Charlie mused as he deposited his armful of squirming, heated blond and began yanking off his robes, the shirt underneath them, the Muggle-style jeans, _everything_ in a frenzied pace; Malfoy watched him with a calculating grin as he reclined against the pillows, reaching into the nearby drawer to pull out a small round clay-pot, before undoing the many fastenings on his robes with collected movements of his pale hands.

Finally, finally; he was naked, looming over Malfoy who was still enveloped in his clothing like a delectable treat. Malfoy's eyes were on him as Charlie kneeled between those legs once more, running rough hands from ankles up to bent knees, trailing down the insides of pale thighs, slow, tickling movements that caused Malfoy to squirm. His hands roamed underneath the robes, opening them slowly, revealing Malfoy little by little, until he lay there unwrapped and ready to devour. Charlie's already hard cock twitched demandingly; such an eager lad.

" _Draco_ ," Charlie breathed; he couldn't stop himself. Draco blinked up at him, robes still draped around his shoulders. Charlie bent forward, opening his lips around one small nipple, feeling it tighten as the point of his tongue traced around it. Draco's hand was in his hair, tugging insistently on the coarse red curls, pulling him up for a kiss that was not as violent as the first one.

This one was slow, an steady exploration of lips and tongue; Charlie held onto one of Draco's wrists and pulled at it, placing it over his head insistently; Draco moved the other one on his own accord, eyes fixed on Charlie's as the other man pulled back to look down at his face.

Eyes dark in the candle-light, Draco lay naked on the dark-green material of his robes, setting off the paleness of his skin. Charlie touched his hair with reverence, feeling the long strands trickle through his fingers. He hadn't known that Draco would have complied with his request to allow his hair grow longer; at the time he had asked, they had just been satisfying themselves with each others' bodies, no intention of any secure relationship. It had almost been some sort of an unspoken agreement that there would be no talk of cementing such a bond, for as soon as the dragons were recaptured, they would all be able to move along with their lives. Yet, Draco had not argued at all when Charlie claimed he would look sexier with longer hair. Maybe because Charlie had appealed to his vanity; that must have been it.

"Don't take down your hands," Charlie warned. Draco's eyebrows moved very slightly, and he simply laced his fingers together. "Good," Charlie murmured approvingly and Draco gave him a dry, yet indulgent smile, a far cry from his usual smirk. Charlie went back to the nipple he had been concentrating on, giving it a hearty, smacking kiss that made Draco shake with suppressed laughter. It was easy and comfortable between the two of them now, quite unlike the furious sex they had at the very start, when everyone was still unsure about what they were doing after the war and highly concerned with the added problem of the dragons. Draco delighted in fucking him just to piss Ron and Harry off and Charlie did it... well, because it was _fun_ ; and Malfoy was a sensual being, anyway.

Charlie tried not to think about how far past he had gone past 'just fucking' in his own head. Following that train of thought would end up in shambles, so Charlie wouldn't subject the both of them to that.

"For a Weasley, you're brilliant at this," Draco now muttered, arching up into Charlie's roving mouth. Charlie shook his head in amusement; Draco would say just the most astounding things in the heat of the moment. It was one of those things Charlie loved about him.

That thought, the very same one he had been trying to avoid, drew him up short; so short, in fact, that he sat back on his heels between Malfoy's bent knees and stared at the stone wall, a little bemused. A Malfoy and love. Two words that didn't have much of a reason to be in the same sentence with each other. Draco was sharp-tongued and impatient; he saw no reason _not_ to scare the shit out of the students who were permanently protected within the walls of the school while their parents worked at rebuilding the Ministry and re-establishing the wards. He loved to aggravate all of Charlie's family-members, except Bill and their Mum, for whom he had a grudging respect. He had a superior attitude nearly all of the time and it was his pleasure to outline why he was better off than Potter any day by virtue of still having parents.

At the same time, he was smart and tenacious, and once given a problem, he would work on it until solved. He was also more loyal than given credit for; and he adored his parents. Charlie had an idea that anyone who loved his parents very much, as Draco did, must have something in them worth taking a second look at.

"Weasley, I don't have all day," Draco now snapped at Charlie's seeming frozen state. He squinted at Charlie, and continued to speak, but with a little more gentleness. Not that anyone else could tell how much more gentle it was, but it was a testament to the amount of time Charlie spent in his presence, that he know the different shadings of Draco's voice. "Charles. What is it? Did something happen in the field... you know, during that last--"

"No, nothing. Everything went fine." Charlie smoothed his hands down his legs, reaching under to cup his bollocks, testing their fuzzed weight in the palm of his hand. He allowed his hand to drift a little further, seeking out that secretive furled entrance and watching as Draco bit his bottom lip in anticipatory pleasure. "Everything went just fine," he repeated softly, reaching forward to dip his fingers in the now-uncovered pot, coating his fingers in the lubricant Draco had brewed himself. He looked at his thick fingers as he lifted them; thicker and shorter fingers than Draco's, skin roughed by the sun and wind. It pleased him that as he slowly twisted them into Draco, that they would cause such a reaction in that slender body, causing Draco to arch and mewl and beg without words, fingers flexing around each other.

In the land of this dragon, Charlie felt like a king. It was a probably one of the silliest lines Charlie had ever thought during sex, but that didn't stop it from ringing true, he mused as he removed his fingers with a faint _pop_ and gripped his own cock, guiding it into his lover.

 _Lover_ , he thought, sinking slowly and hearing Malfoy's panting moans. Malfoy still didn't remove his hands from over his head and Charlie buried his face into the crook his neck as he was fully sheathed. _Lover_. Sounded wonderful, he liked it; pity Malfoy would never buy into it.

He shifted his hips just a little, in and out with teasing movements until Draco was practically snarling at him to _fuck harder, Weasley, put your sodding back into it_. The first time they slept together had been a bit of a disaster that led to questions about the bruises on his neck. One would have thought that Draco would have been cowed by the disapproving looks everyone gave him as he worked with the Ministry and the Order to get their world back under control. He seemed just a little more defiant than ever... and Charlie liked defiant. He liked it just fine.

"Yes," Draco hissed, arching his body, cock throbbing between the two of them. "Yes, that's it. I've been waiting on this all day..." He unlinked his fingers, sliding one hand between their sweating bodies to grip at his cock.

Charlie growled down at him, continuing to thrust. "No, you don't." He grasped that that searching hand, and pressed it back above the other, feeling Draco clench around him in retaliation. He groaned mightily, squeezing the fine wrists in his hands. "Don't... don't do that."

Draco simply _did it again_ , the git, and Charlie bit him on the shoulder, feeling his balls tighten even further; he held back desperately, _needing_ that Draco climaxed before he did.

It was a very close thing, though, but the haze of his pleasure, he heard Draco's strangled cries.

* * *

"Weasley." Draco's head was on Charlie's chest as Charlie stroked his hair absent-mindedly.

"Hmm?"

"Mother Floo'ed today," Malfoy said in a low voice; Charlie stopped petting his hair for a beat, and then continued. "She asked about the dragons."

Charlie smiled a little. Malfoy Manor was one of those few buildings like Hogwarts, not dependent on the Ministry for its wards, but drawing its magical protection from its location. Draco had only returned there once or twice, but stayed at Hogwarts to brew potions, probably his form of penance: the tranquilizing potions, the healing salves, anything the teams needed. Narcissa Malfoy Flooed Draco nearly twice a day, ostensibly to ask about 'the dragons'.

"We've nearly gotten them all re-captured, at least in this region. We've gotten reports from Ireland about a few more, so we might do some long-distance Apparating in a few days. Should be fun."

Draco gave a huff that managed to be derisive and amused at the same time, before lapsing again into a pensive silence.

"Everything has changed, hasn't it," he finally asked in such a low voice that Charlie had to tilt his head as close as he could. "The Mud--Muggles, they know about us now. All of them."

"Yeah," Charlie sighed. "Huge cock-up, but what can you do."

There was a silence as they both considered the problems they had now. Malfoy cleared his throat.

"I think we should Obliviate them all, when we have the chance," he said and then raised his head to give Charlie a narrow-eyed look as Charlie chuckled. "I'm very serious."

"I know you are." Charlie changed the subject. "How's that Shrinking Solution coming along?"

"Well." Draco's face lit up; he looked insufferably proud of himself. "I've finished a test batch. I think it's going to work perfectly. No, I _know_ it will."

The Shrinking Solution would reduce the need to use the _Diminuo_ , which needed the constant presence of supportive spells to ensure that it would not wear off the dragons. These spells had to be renewed nearly every five hours, and was a serious magical drain on the wizards that offered to do this. Draco had been working on refining the Shrinking Solution, for a normal brewing would make a dragon _younger_ as well as smaller. A dragonlet required far more attention than a fully-grown dragon; as a matter of fact, it needed adult dragons to take care of it, which was why Charlie had latched on to the very first suggestion of making each recaptured dragon much smaller for a more practical confinement.

"When can we test it?"

"Tomorrow," Draco yawned.

"So we will need a tranquilizing potion--"

"We can't." Draco moved away, pulling most of the duvet with himself; Charlie yanked it back with a mischievous grin. "The tranquilizer will cause the Shrinking Solution to react improperly. I'm going to need an conscious dragon. Fully-sized."

"You're out of your fucking mind," Charlie told him incredulously, his smile slipping off his face. "How will we get the potion in with a syringe while it's awake? We'll have to call the Muggle Dragon Squad and have them bring in the plasma-nets--"

"Oh, we're not going to need a syringe _or_ the nets, Weasley," Draco said, deceptively blithe. "It'll have to be awake and free, I'm afraid. We'll have to toss the potion straight into its damned throat."

* * *

"I don't know, but this has disaster written all over it," Ron said doubtfully as he watched Harry, Charlie and Malfoy put on protective Quidditch gear. He cast a suspicious eye on Draco, who, being used to suspicious eyes and turned backs these days, chose to ignore him. "I mean, there must be another way."

"Malfoy says there isn't," Harry said, looking at Draco in a sidelong fashion. Draco sent him a very special sneer. "I don't know why we can't use the tranquilizers, though, it just seems--"

"Because we _can't_ ," Draco snapped. Catching his eye, Charlie gave him a small shake of his head and Draco visibly attempted to relax, pulling on a black knitted-cap over his hair, just as Charlie was doing. Mum had hated making them in black, but it couldn't be helped. "Not for this one, anyway. When the dragon gets Shrinked, I'll take a little of its blood and test it. Then, I'll have to increase the potency of the tranquilizer in comparison with the Shrinking Solution in the dragon's blood, so that you can knock out dragons _safely_ and shrink them at the same time, without your little _Diminuo_. But this is the way we have to do it _now_. That clear?"

"It's alright, we can do it," Charlie put in firmly. Harry still looked unconvinced, but he pulled his goggles over his eyes without another word. "Now, it has to be thrown into its open mouth and we have to remember how a dragon breathes fire. There is a moment a dragon has to pull in oxygen to produce flame, alright? The false palate will be open in the back of its throat—" Charlie paused, for both Harry and Malfoy's eyes were glazing over, in much the same fashion that Ron's did when Hermione spoke. He chuckled, continuing: "Just remember, _while_ its mouth is open. That's the moment you have to use. Let's hope this works."

"Well, at least you'll have three chances," Ron said, pulling three shimmering ball-like shapes out of a burlap bag. They were full of the Shrinking solution, carefully measured and poured by Draco. The balls had been made by Hermione: they were really just round wards that had a fairly sensitive contact-charm woven into them. As soon as they struck some surface with a certain amount of force, they dispersed, leaving whatever was inside them.

Charlie took one carefully. The surface resembled that of an ordinary bubble, yet felt strong and spongy. He hoped it wouldn't explode on him in mid-air; he probably would end up a tiny man on a huge broom.

"Just think of it as... reverse Quidditch!" Charlie yelled as they kicked off from the ground, hovering in a tight circle. "Don't hold the Snitch, throw it away from you... and aim properly!"

"Reverse Quidditch, fantastic!" Harry shouted back over the breeze, watching as Ron placed a Confiner on the ground and ended the spells that held the dragon captive and tiny. Ron had a few moments to get away, and he used them wisely, dashing back to the castle. The Muggle back-up crew was already ensconced inside, waiting in case the experiment failed and they had to do a recapture with the plasma-nets. "It'll be like having fun, only not really!"

The Confiner shattered, and for a moment, there was nothing at all, nothing happening. A slight buzzing sound came and went, like that of a large bumblebee passing by; that must have been the support spells ending, and the _Diminuo_ breaking under the wrath of the dragon's magic. Charlie barely had time to glance at Draco, who was peering down at the grass, a long strand of blond hair escaping from the cap he wore. It must have pulled out of his cloth hair-tie. Once, Charlie had asked him why he used a black strip and Draco had just stared at him, before making a stiff-lipped reply about a bit of Snape's robes that had torn in his hand when they had been fleeing from the tower. Charlie hadn't pressed him much after that.

He nudged his broom closer to Draco, disregarding Harry's quizzical stare. Draco looked at him with a small grin playing on his lips; as Draco parted his lips to make some quip, the dragon regained its proper size.

It was amazing to see, as dangerous as it was. The dragon just seemed to bloom out of the ground, like some scaly, roaring Whomping Willow. Charlie pulled back on his broom, shouting as the dragon's wings flashed up in a leathery snap, nearly knocking him off.

"Watch out!" Charlie bent low over his broom, turning rapidly away as the dragon inhaled deeply, a terrible sound. "Watch it, watch it!"

The dragon, one of Little Joe's cousins, breathed streams of flame out of its nostrils. Harry and Draco banked quickly out of the way; the flames tracked after them and Charlie watched half-desperately, half-admiringly as they streaked away. He had always heard that they were both good Seekers, but to see them flying was a different story. They could go professional, really. That was a bit of a joke, since the Wizarding world was in shambles... but maybe after. They should really consider it.

He found he was a bit jealous in the midst of their heated flight, even when the dragon suddenly crouched and then launched itself into the air with a hoarse cry. It was apparent that they knew how the other flew, and twisted around each other in the air, as if they were two halves of the same person. The dragon, attracted by their zipping movements, gave chase.

Charlie chased after them and the dragon, a little to the side, watching as Harry shouted at Draco, and then raised his charmed ball. The dragon's mouth was wide open again and Harry's hand slung back; but the charmed ball exploded on the side of the dragon's snout.

No good; the scales kept the potion from being absorbed into the blood-stream; the beast had to _ingest_ it, according to Draco. Harry pulled up his broom and did a backwards roll in the air, up over the dragon. Charlie zipped forward and around, taking his place.

Draco rolled to one side suddenly, the trees of the Forbidden Forest flickering underneath, a dark-green sea. Charlie went in the opposite direction and the dragon shot between them, going quite a distance before tucking itself into a neat turn and shooting back toward them.

"Single-minded, isn't it!" Draco yelled.

"It's pissed off at us already," Charlie said grimly. He was very close to giving in and alerting the Muggle crew, but they had to do this. They couldn't fail at this, because failing would mean that they would not have been able to protect and keep the dragons. The Muggle governments had offered to put the dragons in their own containment areas; Charlie had the strong suspicion that if they allowed the Muggles to keep the dragons, they'd do terrible things to them, and he could not have that happen... not as long as he was a dragon-keeper.

The dragon was readying itself to exhale fire again. Charlie bent low to his broom, cradling the ball gingerly, watching Malfoy's robes flutter in front. He rolled to his left again, leaving sight of Draco and hearing the dragon flapping furiously after them. Now they were turning over the lake, the Giant Squid flinging a tentacle in the air as they passed, snagging the dragon's tail. The dragon roared, wings flapping, and the flames belched again, down at the surface of the water; as the Squid hurriedly released the tail, Charlie noticed that the dragon's mouth was open as it pulled in air now, long teeth shining in the late morning light as dark smoke smudged the air above its nostrils.

There was a chance, and he moved to take it. Suddenly, Draco was beside him, his hat gone from his head and Charlie wanted to yell at him furiously, for he could practically _see_ when the dragon focused on the glimmer of Draco's hair. Short-sighted or not, when dragons saw something bright, they went after it.

Dragons have excellent control over their tails, even as they hover; before Charlie could spin away, or warn Draco to do the same, the scaled tail whipped forward and curled around Draco, who cried out in pain, releasing his charmed ball to the water below. Quick as a whip, the dragon reeled him in, pulling Draco up towards its opening maw.

 _No_ , Charlie thought, not sure that he was thinking at all. He flew frantically right towards the dragon and Draco, whose head was lolling about in the grip of the tail; he raised his arm to throw and he hoped, oh how he _hoped_ as he flung as hard as he could manage, that he wouldn't miss..

The ball rolled through the air, ever so slowly. It went past Draco's head, which was leaning at a frightening angle on his shoulders and barely missed one long, jagged tooth of the dragon before it disappeared deep within that frighteningly red cavity.

The impact of the ball was not heard at all, but the effect of Draco's Shrinking solution was instantaneous. A tremor ran though the body of the dragon, once... twice and it released Draco's limp body. Charlie gave a hoarse cry, but before he could even point his broom down, Harry had streaked to that falling form, catching Draco clumsily before he fell into the water.

The dragon, much to its apparent disgust, was shrinking again, and only a counter-solution from Draco's makeshift laboratory would restore it this time. Charlie circled around its changing body and caught it in one shaking hand. Excellent, this was very good for them, but all Charlie could see was Harry landing on the shore of the lake, struggling to place Draco's taller frame on the ground. He hardly noticed that the Giant Squid wasn't giant anymore, thanks to Draco's abandoned ball hitting it right on the tentacles.

"I think he has some crushed ribs," Harry said when Charlie landed clumsily beside them, literally flinging his broom into a nearby patch of short scrubby grass. Harry backed away as Charlie went down on his knees beside Draco's slender form, rubbing trembling fingers over the slight trickle of blood emerging from that sharp nose.

"Let's get him up to the infirmary," Charlie heard himself saying in a perfectly calm voice. He had always been told that he functioned quite well under pressure, but this... this was too much. Draco was lying very still, and he did not wake at all as Charlie cast the gentlest _Leviosa_ he could, and walked beside Draco's hovering frame.

* * *

Charlie woke up with the most dreadful crick in his neck. He groaned a little, and shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position. He had fallen asleep while seated close to Draco's bed, his head pillowed on his folded arms on the cool white sheets.

He groaned again and Draco shifted, clearing his throat.

"Stop moving around, you're disturbing me," Draco complained, his voice sounding like rusty nails. Charlie raised his head, staring at him as Draco made a face, plucking at the bandages wrapped around his chest. " _Ow_... wait. Did it work? The potion, did it work properly?"

 _Of course it worked_ , was what Charlie had meant to say, but what came out was, "I love you."

There was a long silence, in which the two of them stared at each other; Charlie wasn't quite sure who was more shocked. It was the most disastrous thing to say, really, but Charlie wasn't about to take it back, not when he meant it.

"Me. You love _me_ ," Draco said carefully, suddenly not meeting his eyes. Instead, he chose to stare at the white billowing curtains that separated their corner from the rest of the infirmary. "I... I think it's quite possible that the dragon hit you in the head."

" _Some_ dragon did," Charlie joked weakly. It had been incredibly hard to give Draco over to Madame Pomfrey when they had made their way to her. Charlie had wanted to be close to him as the healing process was initiated and when he had been shooed out, he had spent some time sitting on a surprisingly comfortable wooden bench, back resting on the uneven stone wall and sorting out what he really felt; he wanted more than sex, something that had come home to him as he had watched Draco fall.

Yet, it was alright if Draco didn't want to return the sentiment; these things happened, and Charlie was nothing if not a very pragmatic person. He had been in situations where he had to just grin and bear whatever Life threw at him. He was a Weasley, after all. Masters of the Grin and Bear.

"I'm a Malfoy," Draco said softly and Charlie felt his mouth twist at the common trend of their thoughts. "That might not mean much to anyone anymore, not after Lord--- not after the war, but I might still have certain... obligations."

"Hey, I know that," Charlie said, raising his hands in a conciliatory gesture and fixing his grin on his face as hard as he could. "I just wanted _you_ to know. How I felt, that is."

Draco traced a pattern in the blank surface of the crisp sheets. His hair was loose around his face, a fair wave as he bent his head.

"Since when?"

Charlie rolled his eyes, smiling in spite of his heart clenching in his chest. "Since you came back to Hogwarts and yelled at Shacklebolt that you wanted to help. Since you pointed out a Shrinking Solution would be more efficient for us to use. Since you grew up without growing out of yourself, if that means anything to you."

"It actually does," Draco drawled, and then bit his lip. "It means a lot, even if it's just between you and me," he continued, in a near-whisper. Charlie gazed at him, drinking in his expressive features; he could tell that Draco was struggling with himself, actually knowing when he reached a final choice with a short nod, quite decisively. He squared his narrow shoulders, making a face at the pain in his ribs, and then looked right into Charlie's eyes. In that moment, Charlie had a very clear impression, almost a premonition, that he was seeing Draco as the man he would mature into, strong and proud.

"You know what it means? That somewhere in this land, a Weasley claims he loves a Malfoy, and hell is freezing over. Possibly because the Malfoy feels similarly and has done so for quite some time."

"Is that so?" Charlie breathed and Draco grinned fully at him, all even teeth and gleaming eyes, reaching out with one pale hand. Charlie took it and squeezed his fingers, just a little.

"That is so. This is a strange land we are now living in, Weasley. We'd better get used to it."

 _It's strange because it's the land of dragons_ , Charlie thought as he leaned forward for a kiss, thrilling when Draco met him halfway with much pained grimacing but enthusiastic lips against his. _In the land of dragons, anything is possible_.

**Author's Note:**

> Here is the fic I received! I love it.  
> [Incriminating Evidence](http://community.livejournal.com/hpvalensmut/91611.html) by [](http://eeyore9990.livejournal.com/profile)[**eeyore9990**](http://eeyore9990.livejournal.com/); NC-17 | ~4000 words.


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